Apple to announce iMessage for Android at WWDC

Apple may announce iMessage's entry in Android platforms at its Worldwide Developers Conference which will begin on Monday.

This would allow Android device users to interact with fellow iOS users and with each other using the iMessage platform.

It is believed that iMessage for Android will feature similar end-to-end encryption as in iOS devices which will make them much harder to be hacked into. To send an iMessage, an Android device will need to be connected to the internet, whether cellular or Wi-Fi and iMessages can be exchanged between both phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

As per reports, Apple may also be planning to link Apple Pay with iMessage to let users send person-to-person payments via iMessage. However, the chances for this feature to be announced at the developer conference are dim as rumours on this feature have been few and far between and there has been no official statement on this by Apple so far.

Even if Apple does announce iMessages for Android, it won't be the first Apple service to be available on Android devices. Back in November of last year, Apple announced Apple Music for Android which let users enjoy an initial three-month trial before coughing up a £9.99 a month subscription. The Family Sharing scheme, which lets up to six users share a single subscription, costs just £14.99 per month.

In April, Apple released an update for the Android version of Apple Music which let users save music directly on their Android device storage or in their SD cards for offline listening. The new update also allows Android phone users to add a full schedule listing for shows that will air on Beats 1 station. This will ensure that you will not miss any show on Beats 1 that you want to hear at all costs.

At the upcoming developer conference, Apple is also expected to launch iOS 10, the next version of Apple's popular operating system running on iPhones and iPads. Among the new features that iOS 10 will bring is one which will let you hide native iOS apps in your iPhone which you never used. These apps included Stocks, Tips, Find Friends and iBooks which are among the lesser-used native iOS apps.

Apple is also expected to launch a new version of OS X for Macs which may enable Macs to feature Siri for the first time ever. In Macs, Siri will neither appear as a swipe menu nor as a full screen view like in iPhones and iPads, but will appear as an icon in the top right corner of the Mac's menu bar.